


The Song of the Ageless

by SplitDemonIdentity



Category: The Strokes
Genre: Celtic Mythology & Folklore, Different Eras, Immortality, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-05
Updated: 2014-07-05
Packaged: 2018-02-07 12:46:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1899561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SplitDemonIdentity/pseuds/SplitDemonIdentity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the 10th Century, The Strokes happen to meet upon a being in the woods and when Julian wishes to live as long as music will and the other four agree with him, the being grants their wish and they are sent to chase after the music forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Song of the Ageless

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Faiz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faiz/gifts).



A troupe of six men stumbled down the road in the depth of the night, freezing, hungry and tired only managing to keep placing foot in front of foot out sheer determination to not be the first to collapse, none of them wanting to admit that they had gotten lost en route to the castle they were to be performing at for the next few months.

It was assumed to be a trick of their exhausted minds when they saw a flicker of orange flame shining through the dark tree trunks, blinding them.  But they found themselves powerless to resist the pull of the flame in this sodden wood.  It was a promise of warmth, a promise of another human being, and a distant hope of perhaps warming themselves up to continue pressing forward on their journey surviving the night, and one by one they were pulled to it even the skeptical ones who were sure that it was just an illusion and another who was certain --but didn’t voice his suspicions-- that it was a trick of the fair ones, who were going to bash his head open when he reached the flame or send him plunging into a bog.  Possibly both.

When all reached the circle of light cast by the fire they were hit by a blast of heat and warmth that had eluded them for weeks since they had been travelling from Aquitaine to England only to be inundated by a downpour every second of the way it seemed, leading them to forget what feeling dry was like.  But this fire was bright, and hot and washed over them like the sun in the summer when they had travelled the Kingdom of Sicily.  

“Come, come sit down.”  The cracking voice of an ancient crone urged, “The ground is dry here and you’ll be safe from the things that roam these woods at night.”

They stared around bewildered shaking their heads, it was bad enough they were dreaming this fire.  But to hear a voice as ancient as the land itself talking to them as they dreamt?  They were certain that they were going to be dead and their corpses would be found as a warning to the next group of travellers to get lost in this wood; if they were ever found again.

Their eyes adjusted to the almost painful brightness of the fire blazing in front of them and they were stunned.  Sitting beside the fire was a small, wizened old woman who stirred a cauldron and smiled up at them with a toothless grin.  “You’re not afraid of me are you?” The woman asked, “I promise I won’t hurt you, I’ve been watching you trip, lost, through these woods all night.  You’ve been going in circles you know.  I’m surprised you didn’t see the blaze of my fire earlier.”

 “We’ve been going in circles?” Ryan finally said looking down at her exasperated before collapsing on the ground near the fire burying his face in his hands, plainly furious in himself as the leader of the group.

 “You’re not the first and you’re certainly not going to be last.” The crone urged gently stroking Ryan’s knee in reassurance, “These woods do things to people, confuse them and twist them, until they don’t know where they are anymore and collapse in misery.  They're older than time itself so the trees have developed their own minds and they see no reason to help people and find them to be nuisances that need stomped out.  Don’t worry my fire will keep them at bay until the morning when you can find your way to your destination.  So sit, warm up, dry off and relax.  Now that you’re here nothing shall befall you this night.”

Four of the remaining five sat down, Nikolai remained standing at the edge of the circle of light cast by the fire his arms and legs crossed as he glared down at the crone.

“You’re suspicious of me.” The crone asserted, “But don’t be.  I hold no ill will against you.  I wish only to help.”

“Come on” Fab urged gently looking up at Nikolai, “It can’t get any worse, so we may as well accept her assistance.  She can probably keep us alive through the night just coz she managed to start a fire in this downpour and if nothing else that’s going to keep us from freezing to death.” He grabbed his friend’s hose and pulled Nikolai fully into the circle of the fire where he sighed and sat down, immediately glad for the warmth but still suspicious of the woman.

He wasn’t sure what he found untrustworthy of the woman but he was certain he didn’t want to be with her longer than he had to and he didn’t think the other five should spent too much time with her either, although something about the crone had effortlessly captured them.  He was reasonably certain that she was not of this world, or at least had connections to the other worlds.

“Tell me”, she said in her cracking tones that fell unpleasantly upon the ear, “Why are you in this storm?”

“We have to get to our next job somehow” Julian said staring into the fire.

“We’ve been on the road since Aquitaine,” Fab said tiredly.  

“So you’re the unlucky souls who the storm’s been following” The crone suggested.

“Storms don’t follow people.” Nikolai said finally meeting the eyes of the crone.

“But of course they do,” The crone said smiling a toothless smile, “Storms move, they don’t just dry up and rematerialize again and again.  They travel on the winds and they’ve been travelling with you”.

“No they haven’t.” Nick laughed humorless.

“I’ve been watching.” The crone said simply, putting Nikolai even more on edge.

Her cryptic statement quickly melted from the air though when she paused her cauldron stirring and tasted the liquid clinging to the bowl of the spoon, “Are you hungry?” She asked, “The food is nearly ready and you look like you haven’t eaten properly for days at least.  So let us talk while it finishes cooking.”

The aroma of her cauldron suddenly cut through the organic, loamy damp of the wood and caught them off-guard and their bodies quickly betrayed their response to the crone’s question who smiled a mysterious smile hearing it.

“Tell me, you’re all bards yes?” She asked.

“They are.” Ryan said, “I’m not, I don’t have a drop of musical ability in me.”

“What are you then Ryan?” She asked, fixing him in a paralyzing gaze that seemed to see beyond just his outer shell, but also into his deepest most intimate soul making him want to cringe away from what was inside him, but leaving him unable to because the crone had captured him forcing him to face what was hidden in him.

“I’m just a friend”, he said, “I travel with them and manage their affairs so they don’t have to worry about it and can instead focus on their music.”

“That’s very interesting, a rare occurrence.” she replied looking away from him while he shivered in relief, forcing the things the crone had brought to the surface back under where he wouldn’t have to think about them anymore.

“What are your deepest most impossible dreams?” She asked suddenly, “The dreams of youth are completely beyond compare in their scope, they intrigue me and make me wonder about a wider perspective.”

“I wish,” Julian began before exhaling heavily and chuckling hollowly, “You’re going to think this is ridiculous, all of you.  But I sort of wish I could live forever and just make music for the rest of time, just see how it all goes and how it all changes.  ‘Cause it does change.  It’s been changing around us, I’ve seen it.  And by not dying, I can see and remember how it’s changed for myself”.

Albert, Fab, Nick and Nikolai nodded in agreement but Ryan didn’t shaking his head.  “I don’t want to live forever.  I think it would get exhausting after a while.” He said, “I’d rather die.  But I don’t know maybe since I can’t make music for myself, I’d like to spend my life surrounded by musicians like them and get to witness the process of them making music.  It’s been the best part of this friendship, getting to see them create and maybe helping a little bit, and if I’m lucky provide a tiny source of inspiration for them”.

The crone’s smile widened as she looked them over hearing their dreams, “I don’t think your dream is ridiculous”, she said directly to Julian, “artists always want to see their art appreciated and see how things change.  And Ryan,” she looked quickly over at him again even though he was sitting right next to her. “Those who provide inspiration are very lucky indeed and it is the only way for some to participate in things they ordinarily couldn’t”.  She looked into her cauldron again clearly managing to see something despite the utter blackness of the interior of the pot. “The food is ready, come let’s eat.”  She pulled bowls and spoons from somewhere filling them and handing them very deliberately to the people in the circle like she needed to hand them in that order otherwise everything would go terribly awry.  Ryan got his bowl first followed by Albert, Nick, Fab, and while she tried to hand one to Nikolai first, he cast a suspicious glance at the bowl and she handed it to Julian instead forcing the final bowl into Nikolai’s hands where he still regarded it with suspicion.

“Eat it.” Albert urged Nikolai, “It’s delicious.”

Nikolai finally agreed to eat it when he realized that all the conversation had died down in favour of eating and even the crone wasn’t paying attention anymore her eyes fixed on her bowl and no one seemed to be suffering any ill effects.  Albert was right, it was delicious.

One by one, as they finished their meal each one fell down deeply asleep none of the others realizing that their friends were collapsing around them, not a single danger warning going off in their heads.  Finally though as Ryan fell asleep after everyone else had fallen down near the fire for warmth and sleep he heard the crones cracking voice gently croon, “Sleep well my children.  Nothing will befall you this night.”

They woke up the following morning in the sun the storm having dissipated, full, well-rested, warm and dry but there was no sign of the crone or her fire anywhere, as if she had never been there and they simply dreamt her in their state the previous night.  Particularly when they investigated their belongings and found not a single thing out of place despite them being easy targets for outlaws in the wood.  

“Do you think she was real?” Nick asked finally looking around nervously, as if trying to find anything of her existence.

“I don’t know.  We’re full so I assume we ate something and she did feed us, but we were warned about tricks the forest plays by the innkeeper just outside of the wood.” Ryan answered as they set back on their journey.


End file.
